Effects of ageing on traffic behaviour and mobility : a literature study. Europe and the Netherlands have an ageing population, because the average age is getting higher and the number of births is getting lower. This literature study will look into the effects this mega trend could have on safe road use in the Netherlands. SWOV intends to include the knowledge that has been gathered about traffic behaviour and mobility of the — ever increasing — group of elderly road users into predictive micro simulation models. SWOV’s simulation models focus primarily on the behaviour of elderly drivers and cyclists. Therefore, this literature review focuses on the effects of ageing in these two groups of road users. The following questions were formulated in this study: 1. Behaviour: What skills that are relevant to safe traffic participation decrease with age? 2. Behaviour: Do the elderly compensate for the decline in skills by adapting their travel behaviour, and does the problem get bigger or smaller? 3. Mobility: What changes in mobility needs and choice of mode of transport are associated with ageing? 4. Mobility: Will the main road network be used differently and/or less intensively? 5. Future: On which road types, with which modes of transport, at which the times, and under what circumstances will future problems mainly occur? 6. Future: Given the challenges that elderly face in relation with certain road categories, transport modes, times and conditions: what is the meaning of the changes? Dutch and international research literature does not use a fixed age limit to define 'senior citizen' or 'the elderly road user'. The group ' elderly ' is defined differently in each study or report — ranging from the large group of over 50s to the much smaller age group of 85-plus. In the Netherlands the elderly are often defined as people aged over 65 years, a demarcation which is based on the retirement age. Wherever possible, this report will indicate the specific age categories when describing the research results. Later in the report some general statements will be made about the elderly. It should however be taken into account that the elderly — also the elderly in the same age category — are not a homogenous group. In terms of traffic and mobility behaviour, there are considerable differences between older people in what they want to do, what they can do, and what they actually do.
Abstract